Story+1984-09-12+Philadelphia,+PA

´´This song....it seems like today there´s....there´s more people....(?) feeling isolated from their jobs, isolated from their government....from their....friends, from their community.... until, uh....that sense of powerlessness just sweeps over them....and they just....they just explode....”
 * 12.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Nebraska´**

´´(the beginning of the intro is missing from the source tape)....Now....you see, before.....I wanted to be a guitar player....there´s only one other thing I wanted to be.....a lover....no, I wanted to be a baseball player and you know I took the traditional hard road, I started when I was seven years old in Colonial League....then I was nine or ten, I was in Little League.... then I got into my teens and I was in Babe Ruth League....and I´d amassed a career batting average by that time of, it must´ve been 156....but it didn´t discourage me....so what happened was by the time I got to be around 15, I was in my last year in Babe Ruth League, I started to get interested in a couple other things....now, one of ´em was the guitar....and the other one....let´s just say that the guitar was the one that I got good at.....but the other one, I´m still looking for volunteers who practise, practise, practise (screaming from the girls) I´m so lonely, it´s a lonely life....but anyway, at the time I didn´t have any conflict in my two careers because we used to play the baseball games during the week and then we used to play the rock and roll shows on the weekends....except one time we got, one of the games got rained-out and they rescheduled for Saturday morning at 8.30....so I´d been out late the night before, I was laying in bed, I heard the guys come to the door, I told my mother, I said ´Mom, (?) go down and tell ´em guys, tell ´em I´m too sick to, I can´t play this morning, I´m sick real bad and I can´t make it to the game´....and so she like every good mother, she goes down and she lies for her son and....I hear them go away and I tuck myself in bed.....but about 20 minutes later they come back.....and like I hear ´em down at the door they´re going like ´Oh, Mrs.Springsteen....we only got eight guys and if Bruce don´t come, we´re gonna forfeit the game, it´s gonna be the end of the season, it´s gonna be terrible, please, Mrs. Springsteen, please, tell him he´s gotta come !´....(?) but I hear her say ´Well, boys, maybe you should go upstairs and ask him yourself´....and now, now I gotta make believe like I´m really sick, you know, I´m laying there in bed (?)....I always sleep with my guitar....my girlfriends, they don´t like it but they get used to it.... sometimes it sleeps on the outside..... anyway, I´m laying there like (coughs) I´m trying to make believe I´m really sick but I´m one of them people that, that when somebody comes up to me, when people start begging me to do something, I always do it, I can´t say ´no´....you know, if somebody asks me for 25 cents on the street, I always give it to ´em.....but anyway, I get my uniform on, I go down to the ballfield and I get out to the rightfield, usual position....I´m standing there and I´m kind of getting into it, the weather´s kind of nice and I´m praying that nobody hits nothing to me.... I´m standing there and the innings go by and like we´re ahead by a run, you know, it´s about the bottom of the eighth and I kind of start daydreaming out there, you know, I see....I imagine there´s this girl....she´s climbing over the outfield fence....she´s walking right out into rightfield....she´s telling me it´s too hot to be wearing this baseball uniform.....and then all of a sudden, pssssh !....´I got it, I got it....I got it´....I dropped the ball, two runs scored, we lost the game....I had to suffer deep humiliation in front of my peers....anyway, that was the day I decided to give up my sports´ career in favor of dedicating my life to rock and roll....and I´m glad I did too....but anyway you´re always out in a bar, there´s always somebody coming up to you telling you about good old days, this song´s just kind of about how all things must pass.....and it all ain´t nothing but glory days....”
 * 12.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Now....once upon a time....a long, long time ago..... (....) Now, there I was....I was a senior in high school....I was having trouble in class, I couldn´t get along with none of my teachers....couldn´t get along with none of my fellow pupils....and so they sent me down to the guidance counsellor....for some guidance....so I was sitting there and he said ´Mr.Springsteen....what seems to be the problem ?´....I said ´Well, I don´t know, I just....I don´t know what to do with myself, I don´t know, I don´t know what I wanna be, I got no direction in, in my life, I ain´t got no faith, I ain´t got no hope, I ain´t got no confidence....I ain´t got a date for Saturday night´....he said ´Well, that´s too big a problem for me, you better go home and talk to your folks´....so I went home, I walk into the house, I go into the kitchen, my father was sitting at the kitchen table....I said ´Dad, I really gotta, I really gotta talk to you about, about something, you see, you see, I don´t know what I´m doing with myself, I feel, I feel lost, I mean I don´t have any confidence, I don´t know, I don´t know what I wanna be, I ain´t got no faith, I ain´t got no hope´....and he said ´Get me another beer out of the icebox´....so I´m depressed, I hitchhiked down into Asbury Park.....and I went into the men´s room of this club, I was thinking of doing myself in....finish it all right now and get it all over with....that´s how desperate I was but then on the wall I seen a phonenumber.....and it said ´Advice and answers to everything´ so I went out and put a dime into the phonebooth and called....it rang once....it rang twice and I heard (Clarence: ´Hello´)....and it was some guy called Clarence ´He-who-knows-all´ Clemons....he gave me his address.....he gave me his address, I went over to his house.... knocked on his door....walked in....we kind of looked each other over a little bit....we decided that we´d make a good team.....and he, he told me that he had a map to the secret of the world, that if we could find it, it would solve all our problems....on the (?) it says.... ´New Jersey´....we check out the map....(?)....we got in Clarence´s Oldsmobile and we started driving south....south down Route 9....through Freehold, through Tom´s River, through Lakewood....it was raining, the wind was blowing, it was snowing but we drove on and on.... until we got down deep into the southern pines....we walked on this backroad, we´d got out and the map said that looking, what we were looking for was somewhere over there in those woods....and so deep into the forest we went.....it was scary in those woods....there was spooky sounds coming from everyplace.....it sounded like werewolves (crowd howls) it sounded like wild lions (crowd roars) it sounded like homicidal cows (crowd moos) (?) we came to a shade tree....now, we could tell it was a shade tree because it had its shades on.... deeper into the forest we went.....now, Big Man....there ain´t, there ain´t nothing dangerous in these woods, is there ? there ain´t nothing like (?)(a part is missing from the source tape) big bear but he was acting kind of friendly....and we got to talking and he said that he wasn´t really mean but he was just lonely....I could tell he was....I could tell by the way he wore his hat that he was smarter than the average bear....(again a part is missing from the source tape)....and we stood there under the trees....and....and then....when....when we touched.... (....) And the rest is hysterical, I mean history.....”
 * 12.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Growin’Up´**

´´(?)....I remember that we swore on it....we swore on it.....and we said....we said it´d last forever and forever and forever....we swore it´d last forever....and forever....and forever.... then you said it was nothing....and then you said it was just a promise....you said it was just a promise....you said it was nothing but a promise.....”
 * 12.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, middle of ´Backstreets´**

´´Alright....ladies and gentlemen....children of all ages....citizens of Philadelphia....and whoever the hell else is out there....it is now time for me to introduce to you....the incredible members of the E Street Band....I would like to begin this evening´s introductions.....with a gentleman to my far left.....a young man who gave up a scholarship at Yale University....he told ´em they could kiss his ass.....to tour in 1984 with the E Street Band.....you may have read his studies on the lost tribes of Hoboken, you may be famliar with his theory of promiscuity, ladies and gentlemen, I´m gonna introduce to you the educated, the dedicated, the sexually liberated, Professor Roy Bittan on the piano....and next.....on the vocals....an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.....the beautiful, the lovely, the talented, with a wonderful personality, Miss Patti Scialfa on the vocals....and next, the man that puts the bass in your face, that brings the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass guitar....and next, on the drums, the man that puts the beat that gets you out of your seat and makes you move your feet....author of The Big Beat, the Mighty one, Max Weinberg on the drums....and next....a gentleman who´s celebrating this year his 15th anniversary as a member of the E Street Band....that´s a long time....and Dan, I wanna show my appreciation, bring out the gifts....ladies and gentlemen, in honor of his 15th year we have a portable hairdryer....and two tickets to tonight´s show....and now the newest member of the E Street Band....on the guitar....Mr.Nils Lofgren .(Nils does his trampoline stunt)....oh, I almost forgot....Jim the Dancing Bear from South Jersey....come on out, Jim.....and last but not least....you´ve seen him in the movies, you´ve seen him on TV....(?) his own band, The Red Bank Rockers.....ladies and gentlemen, for the king of the world, for the emperor of all things, gimme a C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E, what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....Clarence Big Man Clemons on the saxophone....”
 * 12.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, middle of ´Rosalita´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//